The era of subtitle groups has ended, but American dramas can't stop

Last weekend, Renren Video and Shooter Network, which have been with Chinese American drama fans for more than a decade, officially closed down. With the announcement of this news, for the majority of American drama fans, there is a lot of sadness, but little regret.

The era of subtitle groups knocking on the door of American TV series

In 2004, Xiao Guishen, the founder of Renren Film and Television, formed a production team to attract American drama fans living abroad to translate foreign film and television subtitles and release video content with Chinese subtitles for free on the Internet. It is this group of "civilian organizations" composed mainly of overseas students, with a relatively loose organizational structure but a high enthusiasm for film and television dramas, that has led hundreds of millions of domestic film and television drama fans to open the door to the extremely attractive American dramas.

It can be said that the reason why American dramas can be spread to China and accepted by a large number of audiences is that the role played by subtitle groups is so important that it can even be compared with the Internet itself.

First, a large number of domestic audiences who lack basic English skills need Chinese subtitles to correctly understand the plots of American TV series, which is also the most important prerequisite for watching TV series; second, the number of foreign TV series introduced through formal channels is quite limited, and the deleted TV series content cannot meet the domestic audience's demand for American TV series. It is precisely this external condition plus the continuous integration of internal contradictions that stimulated the emergence and continuous growth of subtitle groups.

Liang Liang, the webmaster of Renren Yingshi, once said in an interview with the media that "the spirit and purpose of the subtitle group is free, sharing, communication, and learning, and not to make commercial profits from the content they produce; only organizations that meet these conditions can be considered subtitle groups."

With the end of the era of subtitle groups, we can now make a summary. The characteristic of American TV series in the era of subtitle groups is undoubtedly that they are presented to the audience in the most complete and original form, allowing domestic audiences to understand the lifestyles, values ​​and cultures of overseas countries through TV series, and this cognition is also free of any misunderstandings and prejudices.

Video websites take over the era of American dramas

Before the subtitle groups officially withdrew from the historical stage of American TV series, this form of watching American TV series had actually long been in decline, because major domestic video websites began to purchase American TV series copyrights on a large scale. With the improvement of bandwidth and the richness of series on video websites, more and more American TV series fans have turned to regular video websites to watch American TV series online.

Especially after several years of market cultivation by subtitle groups, American dramas have become increasingly mainstream in the Chinese market. In June, Entity Consulting conducted a survey on social user groups such as Mtime, Douban, and Baidu Tieba and found that 62.6% of social users were following and discussing American dramas; and on Mtime and Douban, which are characterized by young literary and artistic people, white-collar workers, and students, the proportion of people following American dramas was as high as 86%.

At present, major video websites are increasing the number of American TV drama copyrights they purchase year by year, especially Sohu Video, which is known as the No. 1 platform for American TV dramas. In this regard, an industry insider believes that "compared with the irrational increase in the copyrights of domestic film and television dramas, the price of American TV dramas has maintained a rational increase of 15% each year, which has directly led to the cost advantage of purchasing American TV drama resources."

Compared with the viewing effect of American dramas in the era of subtitle groups, we have to admit that the current regular channels for broadcasting American dramas are unsatisfactory in some details. For example, the "castrated" American dramas after being handled by the regulatory authorities have lost their original flavor, and in more cases, there are even embarrassing situations where the audience needs to guess the plot; and according to the procedures stipulated by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television for the introduction of overseas dramas, the release time of American dramas is two or three years later than the overseas premiere, and at the same time, the broadcast time is short and the number of episodes is small; the most unbearable thing is of course the poor Chinese dubbing, which completely destroys the established image of American dramas in the minds of the audience as high-end, grand, and upscale.

But whether it is the original era of subtitle groups or the new era of video websites, the audience's love and pursuit of American dramas cannot be ignored, and this also confirms everyone's favorite joke: I can't stop at all.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.